Some seasons just set up perfectly for what an angler likes to do. That has certainly been the case for Jake Whitaker early on in the 2025 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
After three straight seasons finishing below the Bassmaster Classic cut, including two finishes below 70th in the Angler of the Year race, the 2018 Rookie of the Year finds himself on top of the AOY race through 10 days of tournament action.
Whitaker has made each Top 50 cut so far this season. The Hendersonville, N.C. pro opened the season with a Top 10 finish at the St. Johns River and followed it up with a 23rd at Lake Okeechobee.
This week at the St. Croix Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River, Whitaker is in contention for his second Top 10 of the season after weighing a 19 pound, 8 ounces bag on Day 2 that lifted him to 12th with 32-4.
“I know I can compete,” Whitaker said. “This year, the schedule sets up really well for a shallow water fisherman. So far it has worked out. We are just doing our thing and not worrying about what everyone else is doing.”
His first three seasons on tour, Whitaker qualified for three straight Classics, but three seasons after haven’t been nearly as kind. He finished 52nd in points in 2022 before suffering his two worst seasons, a 76th in 2023 and an 80th in 2024.
“The last three years have been rough on me. Things weren’t going my way,” he said. “You have to do what you know how to do and not worry about the rest. I had been doing that, it just hadn’t worked out in my favor. The first few years I had some really good years and I haven’t really changed anything.
His approach really hasn’t changed too much this year, he said, things are just going his way.
“I wouldn’t say I took a mental reset, it just about being more excited to go out and compete with these guys,” he said. “I’ve been learning and trying to get more in touch with LiveScope and the offshore deal. But it has been really nice to go to what I like to do this year and be successful at it.”
Although he lives almost six hours away from Elizabeth City, Whitaker has enjoyed fishing in his home state for the first time in his Elite career. He has faced some adversity this tournament, but turned that adversity into a positive.
“I was headed to the Chowan River the first morning and made it a ways down there. I speared a wave and it unlatched my rod strap. I lost two rods and it busted the windshield on my boat. I was at the mouth of a creek and decided that was where I was going to fish. I caught a few bass there on Day 1, and should have had a better day, and I went back today.”
As of 9:15 a.m. ET, Whitaker is in 15th place on BassTrakk. You can follow along with his Day 3 on Bassmaster.com. front graph off this morning to make the run and never put it back on.”
